Trading Standards concerns after Hartlepool shop boss bought illegal vapes 'from back of a van'
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Hartlepool Borough Council trading standards chiefs visited Belle Vue Convenience Store in September after a national alert regarding “counterfeit and dangerous” vodka.
Officers are said to have found five bottles of the potentially lethal vodka “on open sale”.
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Hide AdAccording to the council licensing review application, a sample was found to contain isopropyl, an industrial solvent “which is not fit for human consumption”, and the product did not meet its declared strength of 37.5%.


A search of the premises on Belle Vue Way resulted in 194 illegal vapes being found.
Council documents note the premises licence holder Amandip Singh Kapoor stated in an interview the vodka was purchased “legitimately and provided invoices for cash and carries in the region.”
However, officers noted there was no way of tracing where the counterfeit vodka had come from.
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Hide AdTrading standards chiefs also stated neighbouring officers visited the cash and carries in question and “found no evidence of counterfeit vodka on sale.”
It adds: “I am not convinced that the vodka was indeed purchased from a legitimate supplier.”
Council documents noted Mr Kapoor said he was unaware the vapes were illegal and they were acquired at various points.
This included some from a man who attended his store two months prior “selling them out the back of a Mercedes van”, which the shop boss said he hadn’t paid for yet.
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Hide AdThe council review application added: “The fact that Mr Kapoor was willing to purchase stock in this way gives me greater concerns that the unsafe vodka was also purchased from a non-reputable supplier.
“It is trading standards’ contention that the possession for sale of counterfeit vodka and illegal vapes brings into doubt Mr Kapoor’s suitability to be licensed to sell alcohol.”
The documents noted Mr Kapoor said he bought some of the vapes from a legitimate supplier, and provided an electronic invoice for a brand which constituted 21 of 194 devices seized.
Council officers added they accepted that Mr Kapoor believed those 21 devices were legal, but added they breached legislation “for a written statement on their packaging” rather than their construction or capacity.
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